


Bodyheat

by Ekokai



Series: Bodyheat [1]
Category: The Pretender
Genre: F/M, First Time, Handcuffs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-08
Updated: 2012-03-08
Packaged: 2017-11-01 15:58:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/358650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ekokai/pseuds/Ekokai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A cabin in the woods and a handcuffed Pretender.  What's a girl to do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bodyheat

Nightfall was only an hour off and the sky was an ominous shade of gray. There would be snow soon, and from the looks of it, it was going to be a big storm. The temperature had been dropping steadily for the last several hours and as it did, the comfort level in the cabin went downhill too.

Jarod glanced at his watch and looked outside. He had planned on leaving several hours ago but his Jeep wouldn't start and he had spent the afternoon playing around, trying to fix it. Around 3:30 he had given up. He now wished that, just once in his life, Sydney had made him pretend to be a mechanic so he might have had some idea what he was doing.

There was no way he would be able to hike down the mountain and make it into town before the storm hit and to make matters worse, he didn't have a heavy coat with him. He had been told the weather in the mountains was unpredictable this time of year but had incorrectly assumed bad weather would be rain, not snow.

Jarod put his jacket on and picked up the canvas sling that was used for hauling firewood. If he was going to be stuck here for a day or so, he was at least going to be warm.

* * * * 

Miss Parker was breathing hard as the one room cabin came into view. She leaned against a tree to rest as she surveyed the area in front of her. It was pure luck that she had tracked Jarod to this rustic hellhole.

Just yesterday, she had been talking to an old college friend that lived in the town at the bottom of this mountain. After catching up on what they had both been doing the conversation lagged and her friend started describing some hunk that she had run into at the general store. It only took a minute for Miss Parker to realize her friend was describing Jarod.

She grabbed the first flight west and had stopped in town long enough to find out where Jarod was staying before she started up the mountain. Unfortunately, in her haste, she had taken a curve too fast and slid off the road into a ditch about three miles from the cabin. Undeterred, she started hiking and now she had finally reached her objective.

After resting for a minute she reached into her pocket for her cigarettes then let loose with a string of curses when she realized they were still in the car. She wasn't sure how, but that had to be Jarod's fault.  
Wanting to get this over with quickly, she pulled out her gun and darted from tree to tree, getting closer and closer to the cabin. She saw a Jeep sitting by the tool shed with the hood up and there was smoke coming from the cabin's chimney. Jarod was still there.

Crouching down, she ran the last dozen feet to the side of the cabin, flattening herself against the rough, log wall. Very carefully, she eased her head alongside the dirty window and peeked in.......to an empty room.

"Damn!" She snarled softly, looking around. "Where is he?"

She searched the outside of the cabin for any sign of him, but found nothing. The wind was picking up and a few snowflakes swirled around her face as Miss Parker made her way along the rickety porch and to the front door.

* * * * 

Jarod picked up another dead branch and added it to his collection. As he straightened, he saw the snow begin to fall through the trees and noticed the temperature had dropped at least another 10 degrees in the last few minutes.

He zippered his jacket up to his chin and picked up his firewood. It wasn't a lot, but it would last through the night and he would hopefully be on his way in the morning.

Jarod was enjoying the sound of the wind whistling eerily through the trees and the crunch of dead leaves and twigs under his boots as he made his way back to the cabin. As he passed the tree line, he was happy to see smoke still emanating from the chimney and was anxiously anticipating a somewhat warmer climate inside.

He opened the cabin door and had to back his way in so the door wouldn't be ripped from his hand by the wind. He pulled it closed and latched it securely before dumping the wood onto the floor.

"Hello, Jarod."

He froze, momentarily thinking he was imagining Miss Parkers' voice. That fantasy evaporated when he heard a metallic clank as a pair of handcuffs landed on the floor beside him and slid to a stop against his boot.

"You do know what to do with those, don't you?" she asked as he slowly turned around.

She was sitting in a rocking chair in the far corner, her feet up on an ottoman, legs crossed, clearly enjoying herself. Jarod's eyes settled on the gun in her hand, noticing, not for the first time, how natural it looked there.

Miss Parker was still basking in the surprised expression she had briefly seen on Jarod's face when he'd turned around. She gestured with her weapon toward the cuffs and Jarod slowly bent and picked them up, his eyes never leaving her.

"How did you find me?" he asked as he unzipped his jacket and slipped it off. The cabin suddenly seemed very warm and very small.

Miss Parker smiled, not about to satisfy his curiosity.

"Let's just say......it pays to keep in touch with old friends."

Jarod tossed his jacket onto the bed and looked at the cuffs in his hand. The metal was cold against his skin and he opened them slowly, trying to delay his surrender just a little longer.

"Do it," her angry voice shattered the silence in the room.

Jarod looked at the gun again. Would she really shoot him? He believed the answer was yes. Not to kill, to wound. The results would be the same. He would not only still be a prisoner, but he would be a prisoner in pain with no medical help, unable to escape if the opportunity arose.

Jarod placed one of the cuffs on his left wrist and slowly locked it on, then raised his eyes to Miss Parker for further instructions.

"Bedpost," she told him succinctly.

Jarod stepped over to the bed and sat down. Raising his left arm to the bedpost, he secured the other cuff, sealing his fate. Jarod sat, completely dejected, as he watched Miss Parker lay her gun on the table, well out of his reach, then set the key to the cuffs next to it.

Parker strolled toward her trophy, reveling in his capture. While one part of her brain plotted his return to the Centre, another couldn't help noticing how great he looked in the worn jeans and flannel shirt. She had to admit, the handcuffs set the outfit off nicely.

Jarod watched her watching him and started to feel like a new animal at the zoo. He gave the cuffs an experimental tug then looked back at her.

"Now what?" he wondered, leaning back against the headboard.

Miss Parker smiled, pulling her cell phone from her pocket.

"Now I tell everyone I caught you and to send someone to pick us up," she informed him, quite pleased with herself.

"You didn't bring a car?" he asked, a little surprised. He never thought of her as the hiking type.

"Of course I brought a car. I just had a little trouble with it down the hill. Besides, I'm not falling for anymore of your little tricks. When those cuffs come off I want a dozen guns pointed at your head."

"Such a nice thought," Jarod responded sarcastically. "Wouldn't Daddy be a little upset if you had me killed?"

"Dead or alive, Jarod, that was always the deal," she reminded him, shrugging her shoulders.

"Then why haven't you killed me?" he asked quickly, thinking he had her.

She looked at him as if that was the dumbest question she had ever heard.

"Because then I'd have to listen to Sydney bitch about it for the rest of my life!"

Jarod grinned, picturing that. "Oh, I don't think it would be for the rest of your life, just the rest of his."

"Either way, I'd rather keep you alive, if you don't mind."

"Now why would I mind? That's kind of along the same plans I had. Of course, in my plan," he continued bitterly, "I wasn't a prisoner."

"You were quite happy in the Centre for 33 years, Jarod," she sighed heavily, tired of his complaining. "There's no reason to think you can't stay there for 50 or 60 more."

Jarod chose to ignore the thought of 60 more years in the Centre and argue her first point instead.

"Who the hell told you I was happy?" Jarod demanded to know, sitting up again. "Sydney? Your father? Raines? Do you know how many times I tried to escape before I made it?"

That got her attention.

"What? You never tried before last year," she argued, dismissing his story. She was the head of security for 3 years. If he had tried something there would be records and she would know every detail.

Jarod shook his head wearily and thought back to that first time he had climbed through the vents to play in the snow. It hadn't been an escape attempt, but it had given him the idea.

"When you were away at school I made it as far as the parking garage," he told her smugly. "Four years later I was caught in the maintenance tunnel. Six months after that I tried to rappel off the roof but one of the sweepers cut the rope and I fell."

He saw the expression on her face change as she grabbed hold of a long forgotten memory.

"Was that the summer you spent with a broken leg?"

He nodded his head remembering that fall. It was a miracle he wasn't more seriously injured.

"You told me you fell down the stairs," she reminded him accusingly, taking a step toward him.

"That's what Sydney told me to say. I was always brought back to him and he paid off the guards to keep my attempts a secret. If anyone in the Tower knew I was actively trying to leave, I would have been killed."

"You were a kid, they wouldn't have killed you," she told him confidently. Her father was capable of many things, but killing children wasn't one of them.

"No? You're 100 percent certain of that?" he asked, trying to feed any doubts she might have.

Uncomfortable with where this conversation was leading, she looked around the room, her eyes settling near the door.

"Is that all the firewood you could carry?"

Jarod let the conversation drop and joined her new train of thought.

"It was enough for tonight. I planned on hiking out tomorrow." He looked out the side window at the thick wall of falling snow. "Looks like we may be here a few days now."

"I am not spending days stuck in this rustic hellhole with you," she informed him, flipping her phone open. She dialed the Centre and waited with the phone to her ear while Jarod smiled at her.

"What is so damn amusing?" She asked, finding the answer in that same instant. "The phone won't work in this storm."

"It's not the storm," he informed her, looking out the window again. "It's the mountain. The signal can't get past the taller peaks around us. No TV or radio either," he added, loving the expression on her face.

"If you let me go, we can play cards," he offered, jerking on the cuffs again.

"You planned this," she accused him, knowing full well there was no way for him to have done so, but it made her feel better.

Jarod shivered and looked at the fireplace. The fire had burned down to almost nothing and was no longer throwing off measurable heat. He reached over with his free hand and grabbed his jacket, then realized he couldn't put it on with one arm chained to the bed.

"Better fix the fire, woman," he told Miss Parker. "The man of the house is cold."

He didn't dare look at her or he would have laughed and ruined the moment. As it was, he found out she had quite a good throwing arm as the phone came soaring through the air, hitting him solidly in the leg.

"Play nice and I'll share the bed later," he offered, wrapping a quilt around his shoulders.

She stood, glaring at him, with her hands on her hips.

"What makes you think you're keeping the bed?"

He sighed and tugged on the cuffs to remind her.

"We're quite attached to each other," he informed her, loving this turn of events.

"You can be attached to something else in a heartbeat."

Jarod looked around the room as did she. There was nothing else as solid as the bed to chain him to.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" she moaned as she went to tend the fire.

Jarod shrugged his shoulders and snuggled down deeper in the quilt.

"Just lucky, I guess."

* * * * 

 

Miss Parker had pulled the rocking chair close to the fire and sat with a blanket around her. After a meal of soup and crackers she had ignored all of Jarod's attempts at starting a conversation and he had finally given up and gone to sleep.

She leaned forward and tossed another bunch of sticks into the hearth then got up to wander around the one room cabin. She had only taken a few steps when she saw it; the DSA case. It was sitting in the corner behind a butter churn and she stole a glance at Jarod as she bent down to pick it up.

Miss Parker took the case to the table and sat down, reverently running her hand along the cool, metal surface. She felt her excitement level increase dramatically as she imagined her father's pleasure when she turned over both Jarod and the DSA's.

She jumped at the soft voice from the bed.

"Go ahead and open it, the battery is charged. It should last for about 10 hours."

She turned to Jarod who was watching her, his face expressionless. She stared at him for a minute then he closed his eyes and apparently went back to sleep.

Miss Parker had been a spectator at several of Jarod's simulations when she was a child and had found them to be rather boring. As an adult, she knew he had run a great many sims for the military and government, but assumed they were basically all the same.

She fumbled with the latch for a moment then opened the case and turned it on. Pulling out one of the small disks, she examined it closely. To her disappointment, they were not labeled except for a string of numbers across the middle. She could not choose what simulations she wanted to see.

She slid the small disk into the reader and sat back to watch.

For Centre use only  
Jarod : 3/10/91  
Grady Prison Break 

She heard Sydney screaming for help before the picture came on. He was on his stomach, reaching into a hole in the ground as a cloud of dust rose out of it. Men were running from all directions, several of them carrying shovels. They reached the hole and pulled Sydney away as they started digging furiously. In the background, several of the Centre medical doctors came running into view.

It was only a minute before one of the diggers said he hit something and everyone dropped to the ground to dig with their hands. Dirt flew in all directions until one of the men yelled as he uncovered an arm, shoulder and head. Seconds later they dragged Jarod from the hole. The medics started CPR as Sydney paced in the background, stealing looks every few seconds to see if Jarod was breathing yet.

Miss Parker looked at the screen, horrified. This wasn't a simulation, this was an accident during a simulation. She looked at the date on the screen again: Spring of 1991. She had been in Hawaii with a group of friends while Jarod was buried alive during a sim.

As she reached up to remove the disk she saw her father run into the picture and her hand froze. He had a panicked look on his face and as he came up alongside Sydney, he put a comforting hand on the other man's shoulder as they both watched the medics work on Jarod.

Miss Parker watched, transfixed, as someone called out that he had a pulse. As an unconscious Jarod started to breath on his own, Sydney knelt down and gently brushed the dirt from Jarod's face as the screen went dark.

She sat perfectly still; trying to process the information she had just received. Why hadn't she ever heard of the accident and why was her father there?

She wanted to ask questions, but she could tell by Jarod's even breathing that he had, indeed, gone back to sleep. She pulled out the disk and replaced it with another. This time it was a standard sim with Sydney asking questions and Jarod answering them. She went through a dozen disks and was growing tired of watching them when she found it; the last sim he had done in the Centre, two days before he escaped.

* * * * 

Jarod lay in bed and listened to the sounds coming from the DSA's. He knew what she was watching as soon as he heard the roar of a fiery explosion and the screams; his screams.

He had assumed the role of pilot on a 757 that had just taken off with 6 hours of fuel and 159 passengers and crew. Within moments after takeoff, a warning light had come on. They had a hydraulics failure in the landing gear. He knew the procedure. He was to turn the plane around and land normally. The gear was already down and locked from takeoff and there shouldn't be a problem. He informed the crew and passengers then circled the airport for an hour burning off fuel and giving the ground crew a chance to get ready in case something went wrong.

When it was time, Jarod kept his eyes on the runway, his co-pilot calling out instrument readings. Jarod worried about the co-pilot. He had been suspended once for drinking and Jarod had smelled liquor on his breath when he reported for duty tonight, but hadn't said anything. Now, he found his attention divided between flying the crippled plane and worrying if the readings he was being given were correct. He found himself looking at the control panel more than the runway that was coming up fast.

Jarod had the plane 100 feet off the ground and seconds from touchdown when he thought he saw the copilot reach for the landing gear controls. Jarod lunged for the switch and accidentally knocked into it with his hand. Seconds before the plane touched down, the gear unlocked and the plane smashed into the runway, bursting into flames and killing everyone onboard.

Miss Parker watched the end of the sim, tears running down her cheeks as Jarod was injected with a tranquilizer and carried from the room. She removed the disk and closed the case, vowing to never watch another sim as long as she lived, knowing that choice was no longer an option for Jarod.

 

* * * * 

 

Jarod was feeling pretty miserable. His arm was sore from being held up all night by the handcuffs, he had an upset stomach from Miss Parker's attempt at breakfast, he was cold, and he had been arguing with her for 20 minutes over who was going out in the storm after more firewood.

"Just take the cuffs off and I will go find some," he told her again, rapidly becoming irritated with her.

"I am not turning you loose so forget it. I have a heavy coat and I will get the wood."

Jarod tried to speak calmly but failed.

"You don't know the area, you don't know where there is deadfall and you're too damned scrawny to be hauling wood!"

Jarod regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.

"I'm going," she told him through clenched teeth. And when she came back she planned on showing him just how scrawny she was when she tied him up and took the bed.

"At least fasten the rope to yourself and the other end to the porch," he reasoned with her. "That way you won't have to worry about getting lost."

As much as she hated to admit it, that made sense. She grabbed the coil of rope she had found earlier off the chair and stepped out into the blizzard without a look back.

As the door slammed behind her, Jarod rolled off the bed and knelt down, reaching underneath it with his free hand. He felt around until his fingers brushed against the object of his search.

"Got ya," he said happily as he pulled out a fishing pole and a few pounds of dust-bunnies.

Jarod held the pole in his right hand and stretched as far as he could toward the table. With several inches to spare, he was able to knock the handcuff key to the floor and then pull it toward him.

After he unlocked the cuffs, Jarod removed the bullets from Miss Parker's gun then replaced the clip. He put the fishing pole back, blew the dust-bunnies into their home under the bed and sat down where he was supposed to be like nothing had happened.

Jarod waited for fifteen minutes, yet there was still no sign of Miss Parker. Worried, he put on his jacket and went to the door, cracking it open against the wind. The front of the cabin, without the protective cover of trees, showed the true fury of the blizzard. Jarod stepped outside and tried to shield his eyes against the razor sharp sting of icy snow as he called for her.

His voice was thrown back at him while Jarod tried to find the rope that she was supposed to have tied to the porch. Running his bare hand along the rough, wooden railing, he finally located the knot and began pulling. The rope came easily, too easily, and Jarod felt a lump form in his stomach. In another instant he held both ends of the rope in his hands and he looked out into a sea of swirling white hoping for a miracle.

Jarod quickly tied the free end of the rope securely around his waist, hopped over the railing and headed for the woods. He pulled the collar of his jacket up as high as it would go and buried his hands deep in his pockets as the snow began to stick to him.

He was at the treeline when he was stopped in his tracks as the rope ran out. He could see into the woods where the blizzard was being blocked by the trees and dozens of fallen branches lay there, tantalizingly out of reach. He now had a pretty good picture of Miss Parker untying the rope to reach the wood, then losing the end of it in the snow.

He yelled her name again and waited. He imagined her looking for the rope then stubbornly deciding she knew the way back to the cabin. She walked out of the woods, immediately becoming disoriented in the snow.

Jarod began walking toward the cabin, zigzagging his way through the storm, calling her name. He was a few dozen yards from the trees when he heard his name being carried on the icy wind. He spun around, cupping his frozen hands to his mouth and yelled for her again. She called to him, weaker this time, but it was enough to guide him. Moments later he found her sitting beside a tree stump he had used yesterday to cut wood. He now knew exactly where they were in the yard and approximately how many steps it was back to the porch.

Miss Parker looked up as Jarod appeared out of the swirling blanket of white. He looked like a walking snowman, half frozen and never seeming as wonderful as he did at this moment. She put her arms around his neck as he effortlessly picked her up and headed unerringly back to the cabin.

Jarod carried her inside and leaned back on the door, their combined weight just enough to keep it closed against the wind as he latched it. He brought her over to the bed and sat her down, his own discomfort forgotten. Her clothes were soaked through and had begun to freeze. He removed her coat and put a blanket around her shoulders while he worked on getting her shoes and socks off. She was shivering violently and he could hear her teeth chattering behind her slightly blue lips. Jarod looked at her for a moment and decided this was no time for modesty.

"We're going to have to get those wet clothes off before you freeze to death," he told her, expecting an argument. But, Miss Parker was too cold to worry about anything at the moment. She let the blanket drop from her shoulders and tried to unbutton her shirt, but her fingers were too numb and the fabric was too wet. She looked up at Jarod who took the situation into his own hands. He quickly warmed his own hands by the fire then efficiently unbuttoned and removed her shirt and helped her stand while he got her wet jeans off.

"Um....better get rid of the wet underwear too," he told her as he turned his back. He waited a full minute but there wasn't any discernible activity behind him. He heard a soft whimper and turned to find her in tears.

"I can't," she told him in between sobs. "I'm too cold."

Jarod reached out and pulled her into his arms, holding her against his chest until the tears stopped. When she was calmed down he reached inside the blanket and unhooked her bra. She let it drop to the floor and wrapped the blanket around herself as he slipped his fingers into the waistband of her panties and slid them down her legs. She kicked them free of her feet as he picked her up in his strong arms and carried her to the bed.

Jarod was still amazed at how light and fragile she seemed. He could feel the chill coming off of her through the blanket and didn't want to let her go. He laid her on the bed and quickly covered her with every blanket in the cabin, yet she still shivered violently.

Throwing every piece of wood they had into the fire, he watched as the flames ate it greedily. It wasn't going to last long and there was no way he could risk going outside until the storm abated.

He knew of only one way they would both have a chance at staying warm. He tossed his jacket on a chair and walked over to the bed, hesitating for a moment before realizing he wasn't going to get an objection from his frozen companion.

Miss Parker watched intently from under the blankets as Jarod removed his clothes. She knew he only planned on sharing body heat, and that was most likely the only thing on his mind, but the thought of what they could do was enough to get her blood flowing. She closed her eyes briefly, wondering where that thought had suddenly come from.

Jarod stripped down to his briefs then pulled back the blankets. Any reservations he had were quelled when Miss Parker's cold body nuzzled up to his before he could even cover them both. He lay on his right side, facing the wall, with her back to his chest, the covers up to his neck and his left hand on her arm. She was like ice to his touch and he instinctively began running his hand up and down her arm to warm her.

Jarod couldn't believe this strange turn of events. The logical, rational part of him found this to be mildly interesting but medically necessary. His self-preservation instincts wanted him as far away from her as possible. But, in the lead at the moment, was the part of himself that he had been forced to deny his entire adult life.

Miss Parker sighed as she finally started to get warm. She wasn't sure if it was Jarod or his body heat that was doing it, but she had her opinion. As he rubbed her arm she snuggled closer to him, so close she could feel his heartbeat against her back. He let his hand drop to her bare thigh as his movements slowed. He ran his hand down her leg very lightly then back up again. She shivered, but this time it wasn't from the cold. Maybe he had learned a few things while he was gone.

Jarod drew his hand along her hip, up her side and around the curve of her shoulder before lightly caressing her breasts. He felt her nipples harden at his touch then his hand continued its exploration southward. As he passed over her belly she groaned and turned onto her back, giving him better access. He watched her face as he drew lazy circles on her tender flesh as he eased his way toward his ultimate goal.

Miss Parker closed her eyes and moaned in pleasure as Jarod's hand slipped between her legs. As he rubbed her in just the right way she gave up trying to think and pulled his head down to hers, capturing his lips and probing his mouth with her tongue.

"This changes nothing," she told him in a throaty whisper as she buried her face in his neck. "I'm still taking you in."

Jarod grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head up so he could reach her lips again.

"I can't wait," he responded as his explorations of her continued unabated.

She parted her legs as he slipped a finger inside her and she could feel his erection straining against her side. She slid her free hand down his chest and into his briefs as she tried to remove the last barrier between them.

Jarod felt the tugging at his waist and quickly helped her pull off his underwear which were kicked away under the blankets and forgotten. He rolled over on top of her, his knee parting her legs and took one, rosy nipple in his mouth, using his tongue to bring it to a hard peak before kissing his way up her throat and back to her lips. As his mouth devoured hers he guided his erection to her wet core and plunged inside. She wrapped her legs around him, trying to drive him in deeper, harder, faster.

Miss Parker couldn't get enough. She wanted all of Jarod in her and she met him thrust for thrust. As he strained to stay in control until she was ready, Jarod dropped his head to his chest and tried to focus. Unfortunately, he was now in a great position to watch her breasts bouncing inches from his mouth. He felt her tighten around him and he let the pressure begin to build. Her nails dug into his shoulders as a great shudder ripped through his body and her back arched, driving him in deeper than either had believed possible. Miss Parker was wracked by an orgasm so strong she was certain she would never breathe again, and didn't care. As it finally faded away, Jarod collapsed on top of her then rolled over, taking her with him and still inside her.

The cold was forgotten as two sweaty bodies began to move together again as one. Miss Parker was enjoying her new position as she now had what she'd always wanted; complete control over Jarod. He reached up to touch her breasts but she seized his hands and pushed them back over his head. She lay forward on his chest and traced his lips with her finger. As she did it a second time Jarod opened his mouth, captured her finger and started sucking on it suggestively.

Miss Parker needed no further encouragement. She rolled off of him and started to slide down to the end of the bed but he caught her hand and stopped her. Jarod smiled and pulled her back to him and whispered in her ear. Surprised and delighted she lay on top of him again. As she took him in her mouth she thought she had died and gone to heaven when she felt his tongue returning the favor.

* * * * 

 

The wind was howling outside the cabin when Miss Parker awoke with her head on Jarod's chest. She was warm and more content than she had ever been in her life. She carefully raised herself on one elbow and watched Jarod sleep. He looked so peaceful that she hated to disturb him, but she needed something he had.

She let her hand trail down his chest and abdomen until she found her prize between his legs. She ran her nails lightly along his dormant shaft and felt it stir. She looked back at Jarod's face and he was watching her closely.

"Are you serious?" he asked in amazement.

"I'm willing if you're able," she told him as she leaned over and ran her tongue lightly over one of his nipples.

"Oh, I'm able all right," he assured her. "But don't plan on me moving tomorrow."

"You don't even have to move now," she told him as she licked her way down his body.

Jarod groaned in pleasure as she again took him in her mouth. If he had known this was going to happen, he would have surrendered an hour after he first escaped.

 

When Jarod awoke a few hours later the cabin was dark and the fire had gone out completely. He poked his head out from under the blankets and felt the damp, cold air hanging in the room. He couldn't see a thing, but he could feel Miss Parker cuddled up against him in the crook of his arm, her head on his shoulder. He twisted his neck slightly and kissed her forehead. She stirred in her sleep and mumbled something he didn't quite catch.

"What did you say?" He whispered in her ear.

She groaned and draped her arm over his belly so he couldn't move.

"I said 'not now I have a headache'," she mumbled into his chest.

Jarod could barely contain his laughter as he tried not to disturb her. Now that was something he never thought he would hear.

* * * * 

 

The next time Jarod woke the room was lighter but the howling wind outside let him know the storm had raged on through the night. He closed his eyes and wondered what had awakened him, then realized he was alone in bed. He sat up quickly, the blanket falling to his waist, then noticed the room was very warm. Curious, he swung his legs off the bed and stood up, forgetting he was naked.

"Now there's a nice sight to wake up to," came a sultry voice from across the room.

Miss Parker sat at the table wearing nothing but Jarod's flannel shirt as she drank a cup of coffee. Jarod looked over at the fireplace and there were red and yellow flames leaping high in the air as they warmed the room.

"What are you burning in there?" he asked as he wandered over to her side.

She laughed and invited him to have a seat, but when he looked around there were no more chairs.

"What does it take to wake you up?" she asked him seriously. "A bomb? I've been breaking up furniture for the last hour."

"Well I guess someone wore me out," he told her as he bent to steal a kiss. He raised his head and licked his lips. "Mmm. That coffee tastes good."

"Yeah, it would go great with a cigarette," she groaned, holding her face in her hands.

Jarod smiled indulgently.

"Just keep you mind off of it and the craving will pass."

"Oh," she said softly, as she reached up and ran her nails lightly down his chest. "I know what will keep my mind off of it."

She had been watching his face and was amazed when he suddenly turned a dark shade of red and looked panicked.

"I have to go to the bathroom," he told her abruptly as he went in search of his clothes.

Miss Parker watched in amusement as he pulled on his pants without his underwear, his jacket without his shirt and boots without socks before running out the door and into the storm without so much as look back.

She stared at the door for five minutes, waiting for him to come in. She had assumed he wasn't going any further than the end of the porch, one of the benefits of being a guy, but this was taking too long the way he was dressed.

Miss Parker went to the door, intending to crack it open and peek out, but as soon as she tripped the latch the door flew open and Jarod crashed into the room on his back. Miss Parker had jumped away as the door burst open and she stared, open-mouthed as Jarod bounced to his feet and slammed the door closed against the wind.

He stood with his back to her, trying to find the words for what he wanted to say, while he fiddled with a loose string on his jacket.

"Were you leaning against the door?" Parker asked, certain he was but not knowing what else to say.

Jarod nodded his head but didn't look at her. She noticed he was suddenly acting very strange then it dawned on her why; he was embarrassed. Everything was different in the light of day and he had no clue how to handle it. She realized she would normally be angry, being ignored after great sex, but she found the trait in Jarod to be endearing.

Jarod heard her move behind him and suddenly her hand was on his arm and she was turning him around to face her. He wasn't ready for this! He couldn't believe the things he had done, had felt, had thought. It all seemed so perfect last night and now......she was going to take him prisoner, laugh at him, at his lack of experience! Who was he kidding last night? She was never going to let him live this down. She was......she was kissing him?

Jarod was so lost in thought he hadn't noticed Miss Parker unzipping his jacket and slipping her arms inside. She ran her hands up his bare back as she kissed him softly.

"You're freezing," she told him, pulling him closer to her. "Luckily for you I have recently learned a great way to warm someone up."

Jarod kicked off his boots and followed her back to the bed, standing quietly while she slowly undressed him. When he was naked she sat him on the bed then reached in her shirt pocket and pulled out the key to the handcuffs. Jarod watched as she unlocked the cuffs that he had left on the bedpost and then held out her hand. She really was going to take him prisoner again!

He looked into her eyes and she was smiling. Not her normal ' I have you now' smile, but more of a sexy 'I want you now' smile. He looked at her hand and in the center of her palm laid the key. She was giving it to him.

"I don't understand," he admitted sheepishly.

"What?" she asked in her familiar, no-nonsense voice. "Rat-boy never heard of 'bondage' before?"

It suddenly dawned on Jarod what she wanted and the idea had a certain appeal to him. He took the key she offered and set it on the table beside the bed then held out his wrists to her. She smiled wickedly as she snapped on one cuff then pushed him onto his back. She pulled his arms over his head and ran the chain through a slat on the headboard before cuffing his other wrist. As he lay before her, waiting, she slowly removed the shirt she'd been wearing and let it drop to the floor.

"I hear you've been very, very bad," she told him as she climbed on top of him.

"Not yet," he answered, getting into the game, "but give me time."

* * * * 

 

The morning passed in lazy exploration as they took their time with each other. Jarod's discovery that she was ticklish led to a pillow fight, culminating in the most intense lovemaking she had ever experienced. As the day dragged on, they dozed in each other's arms, waking occasionally to renew their passions then drifting off to sleep again, content. They never realized the storm had stopped as suddenly as it began, or that Miss Parker wasn't the only one that knew Jarod was in the cabin.

* * * * 

 

At the bottom of the mountain Raines sat in a shabby hotel room, waiting for Sam to return. Raines had sent him and his two, personal sweeper teams up the mountain the moment it had stopped snowing.

They didn't dare complain that there was too much snow, or claim it was impossible until the roads were clear. They were told to go and bring back Jarod and that's what they were going to do.

* * * * 

 

Miss Parker was getting dressed when Jarod returned to the cabin with an armload of wood and dumped it on the floor.

"It's going to need to dry off a bit before we can use it," he told her as he straightened up. He watched her put on her coat and zip it up.

"Where are you going?"

Miss Parker smiled at him.

"Nature calls. Don't tell me you spent all that time outside just getting wood?"

Jarod grinned and stepped aside as she passed him on her way out the door. Before she left, she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, still cold from his trip outside. She reached up and ran her hand over his two-day growth of beard and cast a critical gaze at it.

"Very sexy," she told him. "I like it."

Jarod had just been thinking he had time to shave and now quickly changed his mind.

"I'll be right back," she promised, closing the door with a soft click. As she stepped off the porch into six inches of fresh snow she heard the crunch of footsteps to her right. She reached for her weapon, realizing in an instant she didn't have it and that she recognized the intruders.

In the cabin, Jarod smiled, not remembering the last time he had been this happy. He knew it wouldn't last and wanted to enjoy it. Miss Parker seemed happy too. Maybe he could talk her into staying with him, helping him, instead of chasing him. He knew it was a long shot and didn't expect her entire personality to change just because she slept with him, but it didn't hurt to dream. After all, she hadn't said one word about taking him back since that first day. Letting her look at the DSAs had been a smart move.

He heard the door open and spoke as he turned around.

"That was fast," he told her as she came in. She stood in the doorway, flanked by Sam and almost a dozen sweepers.

Miss Parker watched as his smile disappeared and the color drained from his face. She could almost hear her words from two days ago echoing in the cabin. 'When those cuffs come off I want a dozen guns pointed at your head.'

She wanted desperately to explain what happened, that she ran into the sweepers outside, but didn't get the chance. The room was suddenly filled with people and guns. Jarod needed to run, but there was nowhere to go. He watched her face as he allowed the sweepers to grab him and roughly shackle his wrists and ankles.

She never took her eyes from his and she shook her head slowly, trying to tell him this wasn't her doing. Jarod felt himself shutting down, the betrayal too great to deal with right now as he tore his eyes away from her face. He had more important things to think about.

Jarod turned to Sam.

"How am I supposed to get down the mountain with my legs chained?"

Sam smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Don't worry about it."

The tone of his voice set off alarms in Jarod's head but before he could react he was sucker punched in the gut. As he doubled over in pain, Sam threw him against the table, digging his elbow into Jarod's back and standing on the chain between his ankles so he couldn't move.

Jarod tried unsuccessfully to look back as he half lay on the table, wondering what they were doing. He had his answer when he felt someone reach around, unsnap his pants then tug them down far enough to expose his right hip.

Jarod clenched his teeth but could not hold back a grunt of pain when a thick needle was forced deep into the hard muscle. He could feel whatever they were pumping into him burning its way through his body. It seemed like an eternity before he was allowed to stand and refasten his pants.

Jarod's eyes immediately searched the room for Miss Parker, but she was gone. A moment later, whatever drug he'd been given kicked in and Jarod dropped to the floor, unconscious.

* * * * 

 

Miss Parker was waiting outside when Jarod was dragged out of the cabin by two sweepers. She had taken a cigarette from one of the men and stood puffing on it nervously as they strapped Jarod into a mountain rescue sled and started toward town. As she followed along, she wondered how she would ever convince Jarod that she had decided to stop chasing him after viewing the DSAs. They way it looked now, she had just kept him busy at the cabin until the sweepers could arrive. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, that she should have told him long ago, but now might never have the chance.

* * * * 

 

Raines smiled, pleased with himself as he sat in the limo, Miss Parker at his side and Jarod laying in the seat across from them.

It had been dark when the group reached their vehicles at the mountains' base and they'd quickly made their way to the hotel where Mr. Raines was waiting.

"How did you find us?" she finally asked, breaking the hour long silence.

Raines smiled and looked at her knowingly.

"It's never a good idea to make personal calls from work, Miss Parker," he wheezed. He could smell lingering cigarette smoke on her clothing and he longed for one more satisfying indulgence.

"You have my phone tapped? You bastard!" She hissed, turning in her seat to face him.

"You have no reason to be outraged, my dear. What do you think your father is going to say when he finds out you were shacked up with Jarod?"

"We were not 'shacked up' we were stranded. We were stuck in the blizzard and he was my prisoner. And you," she pointed at him, "will not take credit for his capture."

He dismissed her indignation with a careless shrug.

"I already received my report. One bed, one unloaded gun, one set of empty handcuffs and one, unrestrained pretender. That doesn't sound like a capture to me, but I'm no security expert."

"There was no place for him to run so there was no reason to keep him cuffed. As for the gun....," she thought fast, wondering when the hell Jarod had emptied it," I took the clip out so he couldn't use it on me."

"If he had been cuffed, you wouldn't have had to worry about it," Raines told her calmly, waiting to see if she'd crack. He didn't want to believe that she was on Jarod's side. This was his chance to find out if she was the leak at the Centre as well.

"If he was cuffed he wouldn't have been able to do the cooking and chop wood. Who do I look like, Davy Crockett?" She gave him a withering look and turned forward in her seat. "I don't do rustic."

Raines sat quietly for a minute, processing the information. He looked at Jarod and had a hard time picturing Mr. Parkers' daughter with the Centre's prize lab rat by choice. He supposed he would believe her for now, but keep an eye on her reactions to what he planned for Jarod. If she had feelings for the pretender, Raines would know soon enough and deal with it then. If not, she was one more person at his disposal to make sure his scheme was a success.

* * * * 

 

Jarod heard the faint sound of an engine and had the sensation of movement as he regained consciousness in the limo. He tried to raise his hand to his eyes but it was stopped midway by the chain that ran from the handcuffs to the belt around his waist.

Miss Parker looked up when she heard the chain rattle and watched Jarod struggle back to consciousness. She wanted to go to him, to make sure he was okay, to explain what happened and, more importantly, what she had to do. But Raines watched closely, his eyes darting between them.

Mr. Raines sat back and watched Miss Parker watch the pretender. Her reaction to him and what was going to happen would determine her future with the Centre and, perhaps, either save or destroy her life.

Jarod opened his eyes and saw them staring at him. God, he was sick of being watched, his every move recorded by someone or something. He tried to ignore his captors as he swung his legs off the seat to sit up. As he moved into an upright position, he sank into the soft, leather seat, immediately putting pressure on his sore hip.

Miss Parker looked away when Jarod swore, trying to get comfortable in the seat. Every cell in her body was fighting to go to him, to hold him. Instead, she looked back gave him her most sinister smile.

"What's wrong? You've been a pain in the ass long enough, it's about time you had one."

Jarod looked from her to Raines, wondering what he had missed while he was unconscious. He saw the DSA case sitting on the floor by her feet and knew he had been a fool. All that time at the cabin, hoping she was starting to see that chasing him was wrong, was just a fantasy. She had him, had the DSAs and had been entertained while she waited for her sweepers. He wondered if she was going to tell anyone how she had kept him occupied. Of course, it wasn't all her fault. He wasn't exactly an unwilling participant. He supposed he had to give her credit for her acting anyway. She had been incredibly convincing.

* * * * 

 

As the limo pulled to a stop in front of a large house, the sweepers were already out of their vehicles, waiting. Raines and Miss Parker got out and stood by silently as two men reached in and grabbed Jarod, dragging him roughly from the car.

As the group moved quickly around to the side entrance, Miss Parker watched as Jarod tried to keep up, but the leg shackles restricted his movements, causing him to fall. Her eyes never left Jarod or she would have seen Raines' quick nod to Sam who ordered Jarod to get up, then kicked him in the back.

Miss Parker was an instant away from pulling her weapon and aerating Sam when she realized this had been planned to trap her. It took every ounce of restraint she had to walk past Jarod without looking at him and to tell Sam, "If he doesn't get up, kick him again."

* * * * 

 

Miss Parker was staring at the doctor, not believing what he was telling her was true.

"Explain it to me again," she told him, "and leave out the medical crap."

The doctor sighed and looked to Raines who seemed mildly amused that Miss Parker was harassing someone else for a change.

"The drug Jarod has been given is a variation on the ones the Centre has been using for years. The problem we have with those is the time involved. We have to put the subject under hypnosis and it can take up to five or six sessions to significantly alter or erase a memory."

"So this drug doesn't require hypnosis?" she asked. She wanted to understand as much about this process as possible so she had some chance of stopping it.

"Not only is the person aware the entire time, but they become convinced that what really happened is, in fact, a lie. We start small, with a very recent memory, then work backwards. As one memory is taken away, another is put in it's place. It's really quite simple."

Miss Parker hated to admit it, but that explanation went over her head as well. The doctor picked up on her lack of understanding and proposed a demonstration. The three of them went into the kitchen where Jarod and his guards had just finished lunch.

Raines nodded his head and Dr. Knight sat down in front of Jarod and smiled. Jarod looked at him suspiciously, but otherwise showed no signs of fear.

"Hello, Jarod," the doctor began. "What was that you just ate?"

Jarod looked at the doctor then at the empty paper plate.

"A sandwich," he answered, wondering if the doctor was hungry too.

"Are you sure? Maybe it was a salad."

Jarod appeared to think about it for a second then confirmed he had eaten a sandwich.

The doctor shook his head slowly, giving Jarod time to doubt his answer.

"I'm really sure it was a salad, Jarod. Remember the lettuce and how the carrots were cut in slices and, I believe, there were tomatoes?"

Jarod concentrated, certain it was a sandwich, but maybe that was yesterday. Come to think of it, he did remember the carrots being sliced the way he liked them.

The doctor stood up and moved to stand beside Jarod, placing his hand on Jarod's shoulder.

"What kind of dressing was on the salad you just ate, Jarod?"

"Italian?" He asked, looking up.

"That's right, very good." The doctor patted Jarod on the back and smiled at his accomplishment.

Miss Parker was amazed. In less time than it took Jarod to eat the sandwich, he had been convinced he had eaten a salad.

She turned and followed Raines into the next room.

"What are you going to do now?"

Raines was pleased she was now convinced of the drugs' possibilities.

"We'll keep going back further and further until he forgets he ever left the Centre and then, if necessary, to the time before he decided to escape. When we return him to the Centre it will be as if he never left."

"And what is in it for you?" She asked, knowing there must be something Raines wanted.

Raines debated whether to tell her or not, then decided against it. If she knew he planned on having Jarod taken away from Sydney, she would intervene before he could make his proposal to the Tower. No, it was best he keep it a secret for now. There were so many things he had always wanted to try but never had the right subject. Nothing was going to get in his way now.

"In it for me?" He asked, shaking his head. "I just want the Centre to get back what belongs to them."

He turned and left the room, oxygen tank squeaking along behind him as Miss Parker became convinced, beyond any doubt, that if Raines got Jarod back to the Centre on his terms, Jarod would be lost to her forever.

* * * * 

 

Jarod was beginning to think Raines was losing his mind. As far as he could tell, there was no reason for them not to return to the Centre, yet they stayed at this house. Miss Parker was on edge, but that wasn't new. She had tried to catch his eye several times by Jarod couldn't even look at her. When he did, all he saw was their time in the cabin and those memories were too hard to deal with right now.

Still cuffed and shackled, Jarod was in the bedroom watching TV with his guards when Raines, Miss Parker and the doctor entered the room. Jarod looked at them curiously then noticed the syringe with the familiar, abnormally large needle that the doctor carried with him. He jumped awkwardly to his feet and was immediately restrained by three guards.

"Get away from me with that," Jarod demanded, fighting to dislodge the men holding his arms.

"It will only be worse if you struggle, Jarod," Raines wheezed. He nodded and the guards dragged Jarod the short distance to the bed and knocked him on to it, face down.

Miss Parker fought to keep any emotion from her face as one of the guards exposed Jarod's hip for the injection. There was already a large, black bruise from the first time and she almost gasped when the doctor chose that exact same spot for this round of drugs.

As the needle pressed deep into the already damaged flesh and muscle, Jarod screamed, fighting to get out from under the men who had him pinned.

Raines watched Miss Parker's face the entire time and was happy to see the incident had no apparent affect on her. Perhaps she had been telling the truth after all.

The doctor removed the needle and the guards released Jarod who lay motionless, waiting for the pain to subside. Raines told everyone to leave as he gave Jarod one last look.

"I'll stay here and guard the lab rat for a while," she told Raines as she stared into his eyes.

Raines looked back at her and saw the same cold, hard woman that had once threatened to kill him. He thought for a moment before deciding he had been wrong to suspect her and nodded his head.

"Keep in mind there wasn't a sedative in that shot. We need him aware when we start the programming," he reminded her, too quietly for Jarod to hear. "We'll be ready in about 30 minutes."

Miss Parker nodded her head and waited for Raines to leave before closing the door behind him. As soon as it clicked shut she ran for the bed where Jarod was struggling to get up without bumping his hip.

"Wait, Jarod, don't do that," she pleaded with him. "Don't move."

She ran into the adjoining bathroom and came back with a cold, wet washcloth. Jarod had rolled onto his left side and was looking at the damage when she sat on the side of the bed and gently covered the wound with the cloth.

Jarod inhaled quickly when the cold hit him, but after a moment he realized it felt better and he began to relax. He closed his eyes and tried to force the pain from his body and focus on thoughts of her hands on him again, but all he could see was her standing in the doorway with the sweepers.

Miss Parker wanted desperately to explain that she had nothing to do with the sweepers showing up, but time was short and with any luck Jarod would soon forget the last 4 days ever happened. If only she could be so fortunate. The cloth under her hand was no longer cold when she gently removed it and set it aside.

Jarod felt her hand leave him and opened his eyes. The pain was back to a manageable level and he tugged his pants back up and snapped them closed. His chains rattled noisily as he got off the bed and limped over to look out the window.

Miss Parker watched him, waiting for him to speak, but it seemed he was waiting for her.

"What do you want me to say?" She finally asked, dreading his answer.

He turned to look at her.

"Do I want you to say something?" he asked innocently. "I don't remember asking you for any promises or guarantees. I knew all along something like this was a possibility." He took a step toward her and winced at the pain in his leg. "Well, maybe not quite like this, but you get the idea."

He had given her a perfect opening. All she had to do was be brave enough, or cowardly enough, to take it.

"What exactly do you remember, Jarod?" she asked, slipping slowly into her corporate bullshitting tone of voice.

He looked at her, slightly confused over her sudden change.

"Remember about what?" he inquired suspiciously.

She rose from her seat on the bed and wandered toward him.

"Do you know what was in that shot and the one before it?"

"The first one appeared to be a very strong sedative," he replied confidently. "Since I'm still standing, I'll assume this last one was something else?"

She nodded her head and reached forward, taking hold of the chain on the handcuffs. He had no choice but to follow her back to the bed where she waited for him to sit down before pulling up a chair and seating herself in front of him.

"Listen to me very carefully," she began. "I'm not sure exactly what Raines is up to, but I think he has big plans for you once you're back at the Centre."

Jarod shook his head.

"Assuming you get me back to the Centre and assuming I can't escape and assuming I get bored enough to work.....I never have any contact with Raines. He has nothing to gain."

"I think he's planning to gain you," she told him forcefully. "It's common knowledge that he's always been jealous of Sydney's work with you and if he's the one that brings you back then he's going to have leverage with the Tower."

Jarod shrugged his shoulders.

"Then I won't work for anyone. Problem solved. They can't force me to pretend."

"They don't have to force you. By the time Raines is finished here, you will be working day and night with no complaints."

"What drugs are you on?" he asked incredulously. He started to stand but she grabbed the cuffs and pulled him back down.

"I'm not," she told him through clenched teeth. "You are. Raines can control your memories with them. He's going to make you forget the last year, any doubts you ever had about the Centre, everything that could ever get in the way of your work."

Jarod stared at her, waiting to see how far she was going to go with this.

"Listen to me," she insisted, jerking on the chain to get his full attention. "Give me five minutes to explain this to you then you can make your own decisions. Okay?"

Since it appeared he had no choice in the matter, Jarod nodded his head in agreement.

"This better be good."

Miss Parker thought for a moment and decided the best way to convince him was the same way the doctor had convinced her, with a demonstration. She looked around the room until she found a pen and paper then handed them to Jarod.

"What color is the carpet in your room at the Centre?"

"White," Jarod answered. "You know that."

"Yes," she agreed, "I do and you know it. Now, I want you to write it on that paper."

He looked at her for a moment then wrote quickly. She took the paper and turned it face down in his lap.

"Now, Jarod. What color is the carpet in your room at the Centre?"

"White," Jarod responded indulgently.

"Are you sure?" she asked, making it sound like he was wrong. "Think hard."

"Yes, I'm sure," Jarod answered, but there was a hint of doubt in his voice and Miss Parker latched on to it.

"Remember when you spilled grape juice on it and were worried it would stain but when it dried you couldn't tell because it blended in? The carpet is purple, isn't it?"

Jarod thought for a moment. It made sense that grape juice wouldn't show up on purple carpet. He could almost see it.

"It's purple?"

"Is it?" she asked again, wanting a solid answer.

"Yes."

"Jarod, do you remember me just telling you that Raines is manipulating your memory?"

"Of course," he answered, somewhat irritated. What did she think, that he couldn't remember something she said two minutes ago?

"I asked you a question and you wrote the answer on this paper, right?"

"Yes," he answered, a bit hesitantly, glancing down at the paper.

"Jarod, what color is the carpet in your room at the Centre?"

"Purple," he answered confidently, smiling at her.

She reached over and turned the paper face up. There, in his handwriting, it said the carpet is white. The smile faded and she could see fear creeping into his eyes.

He remembered every word of the conversation but couldn't pinpoint when he decided the carpet was purple. He didn't like this at all, suddenly realizing he couldn't trust anything he thought he remembered.

"Jarod," she began, hating herself more by the second. "What have you been doing the last 3 days?"

He looked up at her. "Now that I remember. I was with you in the cabin."

"No," she shook her head, "that's what Raines wants you to think."

"No...that I remember clearly," he insisted, even as the first stirrings of doubt crept into his mind.

"You were in the cabin before a storm hit and Raines caught you and brought you here."

"I just came here last night," he told her, certain he was right. Well, fairly certain.

Miss Parker continued quickly before she could change her mind.

"He wanted to prove to me that he could control you and he told you that you and I had been together. He gave you details and convinced you it was true."

Jarod had a thousand thoughts running through his brain. He was desperately grabbing onto memories as they tried to slip away from him. He heard her voice telling him how he had been in this room for most of the week and everything he believed had happened was a lie.

As the drugs worked their way through his body, his mind listened to Miss Parker as she reconstructed the last week for him. His capture in the cabin, a fight with Sam, Raines playing with the drugs. By the time she was finished, Jarod was convinced everything she said was the truth and he was more determined than ever to escape.

"Why did you tell me? Why ruin Raines' plan?" he asked angrily. He much preferred the memories that Raines had created for him over what Miss Parker had just said was the truth.

"Why? Do you really think I want you going around telling people you got lucky with me?" she asked sarcastically. "That would be like doing it with a trained monkey."

She saw the hurt in his eyes and hated herself for it. Jarod felt the heat rising in his face. He could kill Raines for putting those thoughts in his head and then telling her about it.

"As if I'd want to sleep with you either," he mumbled. He wanted to say it louder, but he couldn't bring himself to hurt her like that, and it wasn't true. At least he didn't believe so.

Miss Parker reached into her pocket and pulled out two keys. She knelt down beside Jarod and used the smaller one to unlock the ankle cuffs then his wrists. Jarod watched, amazed as she sat in a chair and cuffed herself to it.

"What are you doing?" he asked incredulously.

"What does it look like, genius? You're escaping. Catch." She tossed the larger key to him and he caught it and looked down. It was a car key.

"A blue Geo Storm in the garage," she told him, hoping he got the idea.

"Why?" he asked, carefully dropping to one knee in front of her.

She wanted to tell him it was because she never wanted him to do another sim, or that she didn't want to see Raines get control of him in the Centre. Instead, she gave him her nastiest smile and answered.

"When you get dragged back to the Centre you're going to be on the end of MY leash. I'm not sharing credit with Raines and I'll be damned if I ever let him get control over your sims. I'll catch you myself next time, Rat-boy."

Jarod stood and gave her a half smile.

"We'll see about that," he told her as he rose and turned away. "Oh, wait. I just remembered something."

Miss Parker's eyes widened, wondering what he had remembered. He turned back to her and slowly leaned over the chair. She looked up at him as he reached for her. She was expecting a kiss and closed her eyes. A moment later she felt a tug at the scarf around her neck as Jarod pulled it loose and quickly gagged her with it.

As she called him every name she could think of Jarod stood there with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"It's a good thing I can't understand what you're saying. It might hurt my feelings. Thanks for the car."

He turned and limped to the window, opening it easily and climbing out without another look back. Had he looked back, he would have seen her watching him with tears in her eyes, and heard her muffled, "good-bye."  
* * * * 

 

Three Days Later  
500 Miles South

Jarod read the e-mail message from Sydney again:

"Raines claims he never left Blue Cove. Miss Parker reports just missing you at a cabin in Washington State. Why did you need to know? Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" Jarod asked himself aloud. He was completely confused, he had no idea what really happened during the last week, and he could hardly sit down because of the huge bruise on his hip.

He was certain of one thing though. Miss Parker had lied to him. He had left the area convinced Raines had indeed manufactured the entire cabin scenario for his own amusement, but later had to change his mind. Miss Parker may have denied their time together, but she could not erase the evidence.

When Jarod had finally stopped at a small motel in Montana to rest, the first thing he wanted was a shower. Jarod remembered the exact moment he realized his original memory was the truth. He had undressed and stopped in front of the bathroom mirror to look at the bruise Raines and his doctor friend had left. As he turned his back to the mirror, Jarod saw not only the bruise, but scratches left down his back and shoulders by an overzealous lover.

He shook his head and reached for the DSAs, wondering again why they were in the car she had given him. Another mystery in a week of mysteries. He would have to remember to ask her next time he saw her. Jarod laughed at that.

* * * * 

 

Blue Cove Clinic  
Two Months Later

 

"Could you repeat that?" Miss Parker asked the doctor.

The woman smiled and leaned forward.

"I said you are not pregnant. It must just be stress."

Miss Parker sighed in relief and flopped back in the chair.

"Thank God," she mumbled to herself, closing her eyes briefly.

"I take it this is good news?" the doctor asked with a smile.

Miss Parker nodded her head.

"Well, I hope the non-father-to-be is as happy."

Miss Parker laughed.

"I'm sure he doesn't even remember we were ever together."

As she left the office, she suddenly had a picture in her mind of Jarod as a little boy and wondered what it would have been like to have one just like him.

"That's all the world needs," she told herself out loud. "Another pain in the ass genius running around causing ulcers."

As she walked back toward the Centre she was plotting her next near-miss with Jarod. She had already figured out six ways for him to escape in the future and if she worked it right she could go on chasing him for years.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All characters and events in this story are fictitious, and any similarity to a real person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and unintended by the author. "The Pretender" is a protected trademark of MTM Television and NBC and the characters of that series are used herein with no mean intent or desire for remuneration.


End file.
